Apparatus, system, and method for vehicle collision avoidance control

ABSTRACT

Provided are an apparatus, system, and method for vehicle collision avoidance control. When a velocity of a vehicle is determined to be a control-involved velocity or higher, blinking of hazard lights of a preceding vehicle in front of the vehicle is recognized, and one or more of driver warning and deceleration control are performed on the basis of recognition of blinking of the hazard light of the preceding vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to recognize a probability of vehicle collision and avoid vehicle collision.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/172,244, filed Oct. 26, 2018 which claims priority from Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2017-0140512, filed on Oct. 26, 2017, both of whichare hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully setforth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus, system, and method forvehicle collision avoidance control.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the travel of a vehicle, the danger of collision continuously residesdue to various factors, such as a driver's carelessness and anothervehicle's invasion of a travel lane.

For this reason, various control technologies are under development toavoid vehicle collision.

According to existing control technologies for avoiding vehiclecollision, only a change in the movement of a preceding vehicle issensed to control movement of the corresponding vehicle accordingly.

However, when a preceding vehicle is likely to suddenly change itsmovement despite no change or a subtle change in the movement, it is notpossible to immediately take a preventive measure against vehiclecollision.

Therefore, immediate and rapid control is very required to avoid vehiclecollision not only when movement of a preceding vehicle is changed butalso when the preceding vehicle is likely to suddenly change itsmovement despite no change or a subtle change in the movement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In this background, the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus,system, and method for vehicle collision avoidance control, theapparatus, system, and method being capable of avoiding vehiclecollision by rapidly recognizing that an area in front of a vehiclewhich is traveling at high velocity is likely to be congested.

Also, the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus, system, andmethod for vehicle collision avoidance control, the apparatus, system,and method being capable of immediate and rapid control for avoidingvehicle collision not only when movement of a preceding vehicle ischanged but also when the preceding vehicle is likely to suddenly changeits movement despite no change or a subtle change in the movement.

Further, the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus, system, andmethod for vehicle collision avoidance control, the apparatus, system,and method enabling immediate and rapid control for avoiding vehiclecollision when an area is suddently congested while a vehicle istraveling at high velocity.

Moreover, the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus, system, andmethod for vehicle collision avoidance control, the apparatus, system,and method being capable of recognizing information which accuratelyindicates a probability that movement of a preceding vehicle will besuddenly changed despite no change or a subtle change in the movementand capable of using the information for vehicle collision avoidancecontrol.

An embodiment provides an apparatus for vehicle collision avoidancecontrol, the apparatus processing image data captured by an imagesensor, which is disposed in a vehicle, has a field of view out of thevehicle, and captures image data, recognizing blinking of hazard lightsof a preceding vehicle on the basis of front image data captured by theimage sensor when the velocity of the vehicle is a control-involvedvelocity or higher, and performing one or more of driver warning anddeceleration control accordingly.

An embodiment provides a system for vehicle collision avoidance control,the system including: a sensing module including at least an imagesensor, which is disposed in a vehicle, has a field of view out of thevehicle, and captures image data, and configured to sense an objectnearby the vehicle; and a controller including a processor configured toprocess the image data captured by the image sensor, wherein thecontroller recognizes blinking of hazard lights of a preceding vehicleof the vehicle at least partially based on processing of the image datacaptured by the image sensor and performs one or more of driver warningand deceleration control accordingly.

The controller may include an apparatus for vehicle collision avoidancecontrol, and the apparatus for vehicle collision avoidance control mayinclude: a control-starting module configured to determine whether avelocity of the vehicle is a control-involved velocity or higher; ahazard-light blinking recognition module configured to recognizeblinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle in front of thevehicle when the velocity of the vehicle is determined to be thecontrol-involved velocity or higher; and a control processing moduleconfigured to perform one or more of driver warning and decelerationcontrol when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle isrecognized.

At a point in time when blinking of the hazard lights of the precedingvehicle is recognized, the preceding vehicle may be traveling at acertain velocity or lower or have stopped in a lane in which the vehicleis traveling or an adjacent lane of the lane.

The control processing module may issue a driver warning when blinkingof the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized, determinewhether the vehicle is currently in danger of collision with thepreceding vehicle, and perform deceleration control when it isdetermined that the vehicle is currently in danger of collision with thepreceding vehicle.

Another embodiment provides a system for vehicle collision avoidancecontrol, the system including a camera configured to acquire a frontvideo, and a vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus configured toperform one or more of driver warning and deceleration control inresponse to blinking of hazard lights of a preceding vehicle of avehicle on the basis of the front video when a velocity of the vehicleis a control-involved velocity or higher.

Another embodiment provides a method for vehicle collision avoidancecontrol, the method including: a first operation of determining whethera velocity of a vehicle is a control-involved velocity or higher; asecond operation of processing front image data captured by an imagesensor, which is disposed in the vehicle, has a field of view out of thevehicle, and captures image data, and recognizing blinking of hazardlights of a preceding vehicle of the vehicle when the velocity of thevehicle is determined to be the control-involved velocity or higher; anda third operation of performing one or more of driver warning anddeceleration control when blinking of the hazard lights of the precedingvehicle is recognized.

At a point in time when blinking of the hazard lights of the precedingvehicle is recognized, the preceding vehicle may be traveling at acertain velocity or lower or have stopped in a lane in which the vehicleis traveling or an adjacent lane of the lane.

The third operation in the method may include: issuing a driver warningwhen blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle isrecognized; determining whether the vehicle is currently in danger ofcollision with the preceding vehicle; and performing decelerationcontrol when it is determined that the vehicle is currently in danger ofcollision with the preceding vehicle.

Meanwhile, the third operation may include issuing a rear warning fornotifying a front situation of the vehicle to a following vehicle of thevehicle.

Another embodiment provides a system for vehicle collision avoidancecontrol, the system including: a sensing module configured to includeone or more of an image sensor which is disposed in a vehicle, has afield of view out of the vehicle, and captures image data and anon-image sensor which is disposed in the vehicle and captures sensingdata to sense one of objects nearby the vehicle; a vehicle movementcontrol module configured to control one or more of a velocity, abraking force, and a steering angle of the vehicle; a warning moduleconfigured to output a warning signal to a driver; and a domaincontroller configured to process one or more of the image data capturedby the image sensor and the sensing data captured by the non-imagesensor and control the warning module or the vehicle movement controlmodule, wherein the domain controller recognizes blinking of hazardlights of a preceding vehicle of the vehicle at least partially based onprocessing of the image data captured by the image sensor and performsone or more of driver warning through the warning module anddeceleration control through the vehicle movement control module.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for vehicle collision avoidancecontrol according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 shows recognition of blinking of hazard lights of a precedingvehicle for vehicle collision avoidance control according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an apparatus for vehicle collisionavoidance control according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 shows an example of vehicle collision avoidance control accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for vehicle collisionavoidance control according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;and

FIG. 6 is a detailed flowchart illustrating a method for vehiclecollision avoidance control according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In adding referencenumerals to elements in each drawing, the same elements will bedesignated by the same reference numerals if possible, although they maybe shown in different drawings.

Further, in the following description of the present disclosure, adetailed description of known functions or configurations incorporatedherein will be omitted when it is determined that the description maymake the subject matter of the present disclosure rather unclear.

In describing elements of embodiments of the present disclosure, termssuch as “first,” “second,” “A,” “B,” “(a),” and “(b)” may be used. Suchterms are used only to distinguish an element from another element, butdo not limit the substance, sequence, order, number, or the like ofelements. It should be noted that when one component is described asbeing “connected,” “coupled,” or “joined” to another component, stillanother component may be “interposed” between the two components or thetwo components may be “connected,” “coupled,” or “joined” to each othervia the other component, even though the component may be directly“connected,” “coupled,” or “joined” to the other component.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 10 for vehicle collision avoidancecontrol according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2shows recognition of blinking of hazard lights of a preceding vehicle210 for vehicle collision avoidance control according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the system 10 for vehicle collision avoidancecontrol installed in a vehicle 200 may include a camera 110 whichacquires a front video of the vehicle 200, an apparatus 100 for vehiclecollision avoidance control (referred to as “vehicle collision avoidancecontrol apparatus” below) which performs vehicle collision avoidancecontrol including one or more of driver warning and deceleration controlin response to blinking of hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle210 of the vehicle 200 based on the front video when a velocity of thevehicle 200 is a control-involved velocity or higher, and the like.

Here, the vehicle 200 in which the system 10 for vehicle collisionavoidance control according to an embodiment of the present disclosureis installed is also referred to as the “corresponding vehicle.”

In addition to a vehicle image sensor such as the camera 110, the system10 for vehicle collision avoidance control according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure may include a non-image sensor such as a radarsensor and an ultrasonic sensor. The image sensor and/or the non-imagesensor may be referred to as a sensing module.

The system 10 for vehicle collision avoidance control according to anembodiment of the present disclosure may include the vehicle collisionavoidance control apparatus 100, and the vehicle collision avoidancecontrol apparatus 100 may be implemented as a controller, a domaincontrol unit (DCU), or a domain controller which performs functions tobe described helow. The sensing module according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure may include a non-image sensor and the like which isdisposed in a vehicle and captures sensing data to sense one of objectsnearby the vehicle in addition to an image sensor or the camera 110which is disposed in the vehicle, has a field of view out of thevehicle, and captures image data.

A vehicle camera applied to an embodiment of the present disclosure maybe indicated by other terms such as an image system, a vision system, animage sensor, or the like. The vehicle camera may include a front camerahaving a field of view to the front of a vehicle, a rear camera having afield of view to the rear of the vehicle, a posterolateral camera havinga field of view to a lateral or a posterolateral direction of thevehicle, and the like. In some cases, the vehicle camera may selectivelyinclude one or more of such cameras of several directions.

Such a camera functions to capture image data of the vicinity of avehicle and transfer the image data to a processor or the controller,and a vision system or an image sensor according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure may additionally include an electronic control unit(ECU) or an image processor which functions to process the capturedimage data and display the image data on a display and the like.

Also, a vision system, an image sensor, or the like according anembodiment of the present disclosure may use an appropriate data link orcommunication link, such as a vehicle network bus, for data transmissionor signal communication from a camera to an image processor.

Further, a vehicle to which an embodiment of the present disclosure isapplied may additionally include a non-image sensor such as a radarsensor or an ultrasonic sensor.

A radar sensor or a radar system used as a non-image sensor in thepresent disclosure may include at least one radar sensor unit, forexample, one or more of a front radar sensor installed on a front sideof a vehicle, a rear radar sensor installed on a rear side of thevehicle, and a lateral or posterolateral radar sensor installed on eachlateral side of the vehicle. Such a radar sensor or radar system mayprocess data by analyzing a transmission signal and a reception signaland detect information on an object accordingly, and may include an ECUor a processor for the purpose. For data transmission or signalcommunication from the radar sensor to the ECU, a communication link,such as an appropriate vehicle network bus, may be used.

Such a radar sensor includes one or more transmitting antennas whichtransmit a radar signal and one or more receiving antennas which receivea signal reflected by an object.

Meanwhile, a radar sensor according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure may employ a multi-dimensional antenna arrangement and amultiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) signal transmission and receptionmethod to form a virtual antenna aperture larger than an actual antennaaperture.

For example, a two-dimensional (2D) antenna array is used to achieveangular precision and resolutions horizontally and vertically. When a 2Dradar antenna array is used, signals are transmitted and receivedthrough (time-multiplexed) two separate scanning operations, that is,horizontal and vertical scannining operations, and MIMO may be usedseparately from horizontal and vertical scanning (time-multiplexing) ofthe 2D radar antenna.

More specifically, the radar sensor according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure may employ a 2D antenna array composed of atransmitting antenna unit including a total of 12 transmitting antennasTx and a receiving antenna unit including 16 receiving antennas Rx, thushaving an arrangement of a total of 192 virtual receiving antennas.

In this case, the transmitting antenna unit may have three transmittingantenna groups each including four transmitting antennas. A firsttransmitting antenna group may be vertically spaced apart from a secondtransmitting antenna group by a certain distance, and the first orsecond transmitting antenna group may be horizontally spaced apart froma third transmitting antenna group by a certain distance D.

Also, the receiving antenna unit may have four receiving antenna groupseach including four receiving antennas. The respective receiving antennagroups may be disposed to be vertically spaced apart and may be disposedbetween the first transmitting antenna group and the third transmittingantenna group which are horizontally spaced apart.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, antennas of aradar sensor may be disposed in a 2D antenna array. As an example,antenna patches may be arranged in a rhombic lattice so that unnecessaryside lobes may be reduced.

Otherwise, a 2D antenna arrangement may include a V-shaped antenna arrayin which multiple radiation patches are disposed in a V shape and morespecifically, may include two V-shaped antenna arrays. In this case, asingle feed is made at the apex of each V-shaped antenna array.

Otherwise, a 2D antenna arrangement may include an X-shaped antena arrayin which multiple radiation pathces are disposed in a X shape and morespecifically, may include two X-shaped antenna arrays. In this case, asingle feed is made at the center of each X-shaped antenna array.

The radar sensor according to an embodiment of the present disclosuremay use a MIMO antenna system to implement sensing accuracy andresolutions horizontally and vertically.

More specifically, in the MIMO system, respective transmitting antennasmay transmit signals which have independent waveforms distinguished fromeach other. In other words, each transmitting antenna transmits a signalhaving an independent waveform distinguished from waveform of othertransmitting antennas, and each receiving antenna may determine whichtransmitting antenna has transmited a signal reflected by an object dueto different waveforms of the signals.

The radar sensor according to an embodiment of the present disclosuremay include a radar housing which accommodates a substrate and circuitincluding transmitting and receiving antennas and a radome whichprovides the appearance of the radar housing. In this case, the radomemay be made of a material for reducing attentuation of radar signalstransmitted and received and may constitute front and rear bumpers orgrilles of a vehicle, a laterial body of the vehicle, or an externalsurface of a vehicle component.

In other words, the radome of the radar sensor may be disposed in agrille, a bumper, a body, or the like of a vehicle or may be disposed asone of parts, such as the grille or the bumper of the vehicle or a partof the vehicle body, constituting an external surface of the vehicle,thereby providing convenience in installing the radar sensor as well asa good appearance of the vehicle.

Also, a vehicle kinematic sensor disposed in a vehicle may be furtherincluded to sense information related to travel of the vehicle, and aspeed sensor and the like may be used as the vehicle kinematic sensor.

As described above, the system 10 for vehicle collision avoidancecontrol according to an embodiment of the present disclosure performsvehicle collision avoidance control in response to blinking of thehazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 so that the vehicle 200does not collide with the preceding vehicle 210.

As an example, the system 10 for vehicle collision avoidance controlaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure may perform vehiclecollision avoidance control on the basis of recognition of blinking ofhazard lights when the vehicle 200 travels at high velocity.

The preceding vehicle 210 may be traveling at a certain velocity orlower or have stopped in a lane in which the vehicle 200 is traveling oran adjacent lane of the lane at a point in time when blinking of thehazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 is recognized so that thesystem 10 for vehicle collision avoidance control according to anembodiment of the present disclosure may perform vehicle collisionavoidance control on the basis of recognition of blinking of hazardlights.

In other words, the system 10 for vehicle collision avoidance controlaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implementedas a part of a traffic jam assist function for assisting driving in acongested area of a highway or a local road.

Specifically, whether the vicitiny of the vehicle 200 is congested isdetermined using a sensing signal of one or more the image sensor andthe non-image sensor included in the sensing module, an output signal ofa navigation device and the like for detecting traffic conditions, andand a signal received from an external source throughvehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication and the like.

When it is determined that the vicinity of the vehicle 200 is congested,the vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100 or the controllerof the system 10 for vehicle collision avoidance control may recognizeblinking of the hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 byprocessing a sensing signal of the image sensor of the sensing moduleand perform vehicle collision avoidance control for avoiding collisionwith the preceding vehicle 210.

Here, the vehicle collision avoidance control may be warning to a driverof the vehicle 200, velocity control (deceleration) of the vehicle 200,rear warning to a following vehicle, and the like.

In other words, when blinking of the hazard lights 211 of the precedingvehicle 210 traveling at low velocity or having stopped is recognizedwhile the vehicle 200 is traveling at high velocity, the system 10 forvehicle collision avoidance control according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure may perform vehicle collision avoidance control foravoiding collision with the preceding vehicle 210.

For example, when an area in front of the vehicle 200 is congested whilethe vehicle 200 is traveling on a highway, the system 10 for vehiclecollision avoidance control according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure may perform vehicle collision avoidance control for avoidingcollision with the preceding vehicle 210 which is in or has just enteredthe congested area of the highway.

When blinking of the hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 isrecognized, the vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100 in thesystem 10 for vehicle collision avoidance control according to anembodiment of the present disclosure issues a driver warning fornotifying a current situation (i.e., a situation in which the hazardlights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 are blinking or a congested areais in front of the vehicle 200) to the driver of the vehicle 200 anddetermines whether the vehicle 200 is currently in danger of collisionwith the preceding vehicle 210.

When it is determined that the vehicle 200 is currently in danger ofcollision, the system 10 for vehicle collision avoidance controlaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure may performdeceleration control.

For example, the vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100according to an embodiment of the present disclosure compares a currentbraking amount of the vehicle 200 and a braking amount (a thresholdvalue) required for avoiding collision and determines that the vehicle200 is currently in danger of collision when the current braking amountof the vehicle 200 is less than the braking amount (the threshold value)required for avoiding collision.

Specifically, the vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100 orthe controller calculates a distance and a relative velocity withrespect to the preceding vehicle 210 on the basis of a sensing signal ofthe sensing module and calculates a time to collision (TTC) with thepreceding vehicle 210 on the basis of the distance and the relativevelocity.

Whether the vehicle 200 is in danger of collision may be determinedusing the calculated TTC and the braking performance of thecorresponding vehicle 200, and a velocity or steering of thecorresponding vehicle 200 may be controlled accordingly.

For example, when it is possible to avoid collision with the precedingvehicle 210 by applying a maximum braking force to the correspondingvehicle 200, deceleration control or brake control is performed on thecorresponding vehicle 200.

On the other hand, when collision with the preceding vehicle 210 isexpected despite the maximum braking force applied to the correspondingvehicle 200, it is possible to perform autonomous emergency steering formoving the vehicle 200 laterally by giving forced steering force in asafe direction after recognizing an obstacle existing behind in the leftor right lane of the vehicle 200 on the basis of a sensing signal of thenon-image sensor and the like. Also, when blinking of the hazard lights211 of the preceding vehicle 210 is recognized, the vehicle collisionavoidance control apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure may issue a rear warning for notifying the currentsituation of the vehicle 200, that is, the front situation of thevehicle 200, to a following vehicle of the vehicle 200.

The rear warning may be, for example, blinking of hazard lights 201 ofthe vehicle 200, sounding of an alarm, transmission of a warning signalto the following vehicle through V2X communication, and the like.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the vehicle collision avoidance controlapparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, andFIG. 4 shows an example of vehicle collision avoidance control accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, the vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include acontrol starting module 310 which determines whether the velocity of thevehicle 200 is a control-involved velocity or higher, a hazard-lightblinking recognition module 320 which recognizes blinking of the hazardlights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 in front of the vehicle 200 whenit is determined that the velocity of the vehicle 200 is thecontrol-involved velocity or higher, and a control processing module 330which performs one or more of driver warning and deceleration controlwhen blinking of the hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 isrecognized.

At a point in time when blinking of the hazard lights 211 of thepreceding vehicle 210 is recognized, the preceding vehicle 210 may betraveling at a certain velocity or lower or have stopped in the lane inwhich the vehicle 200 is traveling or an adjacent lane of the lane. Whenblinking of the hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 isrecognized, the control processing module 330 may issue a driver warningfor notifying the current situation to the driver of the vehicle 200 anddetermine whether the vehicle 200 is currently in danger of collisionwith the preceding vehicle 210. When the vehicle 200 is determined to becurrently in danger of collision with the preceding vehicle 210, thecontrol processing module 330 may perform vehicle collision avoidancecontrol corresponding to deceleration control.

When a braking amount of the vehicle 200 is currently smaller than thethreshold value, the control processing module 330 may determine thatthe vehicle 200 is currently in danger of collision with the precedingvehicle 210.

Here, the current braking amount of the vehicle 200 may be a brakingamount input by the driver's manipulation.

The braking amount (the threshold value) required for avoiding collisionmay be calculated, for example, by the vehicle collision avoidancecontrol apparatus 100 on the basis of a distance between the vehicle 200and the preceding vehicle 210, a relative velocity between the vehicle200 and the preceding vehicle 210, and the like.

The distance between the vehicle 200 and the preceding vehicle 210 maybe obtained by a sensor such as a radar installed in the vehicle 200.

The relative velocity between the vehicle 200 and the preceding vehicle210 may be obtained by a sensor such as a radar, a vehicle velocitysensor, and/or the like installed in the vehicle 200.

When blinking of the hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 isrecognized, the control processing module 330 may perform vehiclecollision avoidance control including a rear warning for notifying thefront situation of the vehicle 200 to the following vehicle of thevehicle 200.

To notify the current situation (blinking of the hazard lights 211 ofthe preceding vehicle 210, a congested area in front of the vehicle 200,the probability of vehicle collision, or the like) to a driver of thefollowing vehicle behind the vehicle 200, the rear warning may includeone or more of blinking of hazard lights, that is, to blink the hazardlights 201 of the vehicle 200, alarm sounding, that is, to sound thealarm of the vehicle 200, and the like.

Also, the rear warning may include transmission of a signal includinginformation on the current situation (blinking of the hazard lights 211of the preceding vehicle 210, a congested area in front of the vehicle200, the probability of vehicle collision, or the like) to the driver ofthe following vehicle behind the vehicle 200 through V2X communicationand the like.

To this end, the vehicle 200 may additionally include a V2Xcommunicator, and the V2X communicator supports vehicle-to-vehiclecommunication or V2X communication, which is vehicle-to-infrastructurecommunication, and may receive traffic information from other nearbyvehicles or nearby infrastructure equipment.

A communication method of the V2X communicator may be wireless access invehicular environment (WAVE) communication which uses a communicationfrequency of 5.9 GHz in the form of a multi-hop network, but is notlimited thereto.

The V2X communicator functions to generate a rear warning signal on thebasis of recognition information of blinking of the hazard lights 211 ofthe preceding vehicle 210 received from the control processing module330 and wirelessly transmit the rear warning signal.

When blinking of the hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 isrecognized and then is stopped, the control processing module 330 maymaintain the preceding vehicle as a control target and performdeceleration control of the vehicle 200.

Specifically, the system 10 for vehicle collision avoidance controlaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include anadaptive cruise control (ACC) module which follows a target ahead. Whenblinking of the hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 isrecognized and then the blinking is not recognized any more, the controlprocessing module 330 may activate or control the ACC module to set thepreceding vehicle 210 as a target and follow the preceding vehicle 210.

In other words, the control processing module 330 issues a driverwarning or performs vehicle deceleration control when blinking of thehazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 is recognized, andperforms ACC targeting the preceding vehicle 210 when blinking of thehazard lights 211 is not recognized thereafter. In this way, it ispossible to provide greater convenience to the driver while avoidingcollision in a congested area.

Meanwhile, when blinking of the hazard lights 211 of the precedingvehicle 210 is not recognized, the control processing module 330 mayperform deceleration control on the basis of a TTC with the precedingvehicle 210.

As an example, the control processing module 330 may calculate a TTCbetween the vehicle 200 and the preceding vehicle 210 and performdeceleration control when the calculated TTC is smaller than a thresholdvalue. Here, the threshold value may be a braking time for avoidingcollision.

The threshold value which may correspond to the braking time foravoiding collision may be calculated, for example, by the vehiclecollision avoidance control apparatus 100 on the basis of one or more ofthe distance between the vehicle 200 and the preceding vehicle 210, therelative velocity between the vehicle 200 and the preceding vehicle 210,the braking performance of the vehicle 200, and the like.

Meanwhile, the hazard-light blinking recognition module 320 mayrecognize blinking of the hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210by analyzing a front video acquired by the camera 110 or the imagesensor when a region having a certain level of luminance (brightness) orhigher exists in the front video, a region whose luminance is changed atcertain intervals exists in the front video, or a region whose luminanceis changed a certain number of times or more exists in the front video.

The hazard-light blinking recognition module 320 may exist out of thecamera 110 or the image sensor or exist as an internal module of thecamera 110 or the image sensor.

As described above, the vehicle 200 and the preceding vehicle 210 may beon a highway.

The vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100 installed in thevehicle 200 traveling at high velocity on a highway may recognize acongested highway area in front of the vehicle 200 through blinking ofthe hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210.

Meanwhile, the vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100installed in the vehicle 200 may indirectly detect that the vehicle 200is on a highway through the velocity of the vehicle 200 and startcollision avoidance control accordingly on the basis of blinking ofhazard lights.

For example, the vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100 mayindirectly detect that the vehicle 200 is on a highway by determiningwhether the velocity of the vehicle 200 is the control-involved velocityor higher. Here, the control-involved velocity may be a vehicle velocityvalue set for highways.

Also, the vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100 installed inthe vehicle 200 may receive highway entry information, directly detectthat the vehicle 200 is on a highway, and start collision avoidancecontrol.

The vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100 may receivehighway entry information from a highway pass terminal, a navigationterminal, a vehicle device, or the like installed in the vehicle 200.

Meanwhile, the control starting module 310, the hazard-light blinkingrecognition module 320, and the control processing module 330 includedin the vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100 may be includedin one electronic control device.

The control starting module 310, the hazard-light blinking recognitionmodule 320, and the control processing module 330 included in thevehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100 may be integrated andfunction as one controller. The controller may include a processor forprocessing one or more of image data captured by a camera or an imagesensor included in the sensing module and sensing data captured by anon-image sensor.

Also, the controller may recognize blinking of hazard lights of apreceding vehicle on the basis of a sensing signal of the sensing moduleand then perform vehicle collision avoidance control. The vehiclecollision avoidance control may be one or more of warning to the driverof the corresponding vehicle 200, velocity control (deceleration) of thecorresponding vehicle 200, and rear warning to a following vehicle.

The controller may be implemented as a DCU or a domain controller whichintegrally has a function of receiving and processing information ofseveral vehicle sensors or relaying sensor signals, a function ofcontrolling movement of a vehicle according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure by generating and transmitting a vehicle collisionavoidance control signal to a vehicle brake control module or a steeringcontrol module, and the like.

The DCU may recognize blinking of hazard lights of a preceding vehicleat least partially on the basis of a function of processing one or moreof image data captured by the image sensor and sensing data captured bythe non-image sensor and processing of the image data captured by theimage sensor and may perform one or more of warning to the driver of thecorresponding vehicle 200, velocity control (deceleration) of thecorresponding vehicle 200, and rear warning to a following vehicle.

Unlike this, the control starting module 310, the hazard-light blinkingrecognition module 320, and the control processing module 330 includedin the vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100 may beimplemented in two or more electronic devices in a distributed manner.

For example, the hazard-light blinking recognition module 320 may beincluded in the camera 110 or an electronic device connected to thecamera 110, and the control starting module 310 and the controlprocessing module 330 may be included in an electronic control deviceconnected to the hazard-light blinking recognition module 320.

The aforementioned electronic control device may be an ECU.

Meanwhile, the above-described vehicle collision avoidance controlapparatus 100 or the (domain) controller according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure and the control starting module 310, thehazard-light blinking recognition module 320, the control processingmodule 330, and the like which are components thereof may be implementedas some modules constituting the system 10 for vehicle collisionavoidance control according to an embodiment of the present disclosureor some modules of an ECU for the system 10.

Modules or the ECU constituting the system 10 for vehicle collisionavoidance control may include a processor, a storage device such as amemory, a computer program for performing a specific function, and thelike, and the control starting module 310, the hazard-light blinkingrecognition module 320, the control processing module 330, etc.described above may be implemented as software modules for performingrespective unique functions thereof.

Since such software can be easily coded by those of ordinary skill inthe art on the basis of descriptions of this specification, thedescription of a detailed form of software will be omitted.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for vehicle collisionavoidance control according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, a method for vehicle collision avoidance control bythe vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure may include an operation ofdetermining whether to start vehicle collision avoidance control (S510),an operation of recognizing blinking of the hazard lights 211 of thepreceding vehicle 210 (S520), an operation of performing vehiclecollision avoidance control (S530), and the like.

In operation S510, the vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100may determine whether a velocity of the vehicle 200 is acontrol-involved velocity or higher.

In operation S520, when the velocity of the vehicle 200 is determined tobe the control-involved velocity or higher, the vehicle collisionavoidance control apparatus 100 may recognize blinking of the hazardlights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 in front of the vehicle 200.

In operation S530, when blinking of the hazard lights 211 of thepreceding vehicle 210 is recognized, the vehicle collision avoidancecontrol apparatus 100 may perform vehicle collision avoidance controlincluding one or more of driver warning and deceleration control.

At the point in time when blinking of the hazard lights 211 of thepreceding vehicle 210 is recognized, the preceding vehicle 210 may betraveling at a certain velocity or lower or have stopped in a lane inwhich the vehicle 200 is traveling or an adjacent lane of the lane.

FIG. 6 is a detailed flowchart illustrating a method for vehiclecollision avoidance control according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating operation S530 in detail.

Operation S530 may include an operation of issuing a driver warning whenblinking of the hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 isrecognized (S610), an operation of determining whether the vehicle 200is currently in danger of collision with the preceding vehicle 210(S630), an operation of controlling deceleration when the vehicle 200 isdetermined to be currently in danger of collision with the precedingvehicle 210 (S640), and the like.

Meanwhile, after operation S610, the vehicle collision avoidance controlapparatus 100 may perform an operation of determining whether blinkingof the hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 recognized inoperation S610 is continuously maintained, and when it is determined inoperation S620 that blinking of the hazard lights 211 of the precedingvehicle 210 is continuously maintained, operation S630 may be performed.

On the other hand, when it is determined in operation S620 that blinkingof the hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 is notcontinuously maintained, that is, when blinking of the hazard lights 211of the preceding vehicle 210 is stopped, the vehicle collision avoidancecontrol apparatus 100 may maintain the preceding vehicle 210 as acontrol target (S625) and perform deceleration control of the vehicle200 with respect to the preceding vehicle 210 which is the controltarget.

Meanwhile, in operation S630, the vehicle collision avoidance controlapparatus 100 may determine whether a braking amount is less than athreshold value and determine that the vehicle 200 is currently indanger of collision with the preceding vehicle 210 when the brakingamount is less than the threshold value (e.g., a brake threshold valuefor avoiding vehicle collision).

Here, a braking amount less than the threshold value may denote that thevehicle 200 may collide with the preceding vehicle 210 due to a lack ofthe braking amount.

When it is determined in operation S630 that the braking amount is lessthan the threshold value, operation S640 may be performed, and when itis determined in operation S630 that the braking amount is the thresholdvalue or more, operation S620 may be performed again.

Here, a braking amount greater than or equal to the threshold value maydenote that the vehicle 200 is unlikely to collide with the precedingvehicle 210 due to the sufficient braking amount of the vehicle 200 evenwhen blinking of the hazard lights 211 of the preceding vehicle 210 isrecognized.

In operation S530, the vehicle collision avoidance control apparatus 100may issue a rear warning for notifying the front situation of thevehicle 200 to a following vehicle of the vehicle 200.

For example, in operation S610, the vehicle collision avoidance controlapparatus 100 may issue not only a driver warning but also a rearwarning of blinking the hazard lights 201 of the corresponding vehicle200.

Also, in operation S610 and/or S640, the vehicle collision avoidancecontrol apparatus 100 may sound an alarm of the vehicle 200 to notifythe current situation (blinking of the hazard lights of the precedingvehicle, a congested area in front of the vehicle 200, the probabilityof vehicle collision, or the like) to a driver of the following vehiclebehind the vehicle 200.

Meanwhile, even when vehicle collision avoidance control is started onthe basis of blinking of hazard lights because it is determined inoperation S510 that the velocity of the vehicle 200 is thecontrol-involved velocity or higher, blinking of the hazard lights 211of the preceding vehicle 210 may not be recognized in operation S520. Inthis case, a TTC with the preceding vehicle 210 is calculated (S650),and it is determined whether the calculated TTC is smaller than athreshold value (e.g., a threshold value of braking time) (S660). Whenthe calculated TTC is smaller than the threshold value, deceleration maybe controlled (S640).

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, it is possible touse a domain controller which functions as a DCU of a vehicle.

In other words, a system for vehicle collision avoidance controlaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include asensing module including one or more of an image sensor which isdisposed in a vehicle, has a field of view out of the vehicle, andcaptures image data and a non-image sensor which is disposed in thevehicle and captures sensing data to sense one of objects nearby thevehicle, a vehicle movement control module which controls one or more ofa velocity, a braking force, and a steering angle of the vehicle, awarning module which outputs a warning signal to a driver, and a domaincontroller which processes one or more of the image data captured by theimage sensor and the sensing data captured by the non-image sensor andcontrols the warning module or the vehicle movement control module.

Here, the domain controller may recognize blinking of hazard lights of apreceding vehicle of the vehicle at least partially based on processingof the image data captured by the image sensor and perform one or moreof driver warning through the warning module and deceleration controlthrough the vehicle movement control module.

The vehicle movement control module is a device for controlling movementof the vehicle by controlling one or more of the engine, the brakesystem, and the steering system of the vehicle. The vehicle movementcontrol module may include a lane keeping assist (LKA) module, a lanechanging assist (LCA) module, an ACC module, a collision avoidancecontrol module, an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) module, etc.constituting a driver assistance system (DAS), but is not limitedthereto.

Meanwhile, it is possible to use an AEB module or an ACC module fordeceleration control according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. In general, an AEB module operates at a high decelerationrate (braking amount) of about 1 G or less, and an ACC module operatesat a low deceleration rate (a braking amount) of about 0.35 G or less.

Therefore, for deceleration control in response to blinking of hazardlights of a preceding vehicle according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, one of the AEB module and the ACC module may be controlledaccording to a required deceleration rate.

Alternatively, deceleration control may be performed using one of theAEB module and the ACC module having a higher maximum deceleration rate.

According to the above-described embodiments, an apparatus, system, andmethod for vehicle collision avoidance control can avoid vehiclecollision by rapidly recognizing that an area in front of a vehiclewhich is traveling at high velocity is likely to be congested.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, an apparatus,system, and method for vehicle collision avoidance control can performimmediate and rapid control for avoiding vehicle collision not only whenmovement of a preceding vehicle is changed but also when the precedingvehicle is likely to suddenly change its movement despite no change or asubtle change in the movement.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, an apparatus,system, and method for vehicle collision avoidance control enableimmediate and rapid control for avoiding vehicle collision when an areais suddently congested while a vehicle is traveling at high velocity.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, an apparatus,system, and method for vehicle collision avoidance control can recognizeinformation (e.g., blinking of hazard lights of a preceding vehicle)which accurately indicates a probability that movement of the precedingvehicle will be suddenly changed despite no change or a subtle change inthe movement and can use the information for vehicle collision avoidancecontrol. The above embodiments of the present disclosure have beendescribed only for illustrative purposes, and those of ordinary skill inthe art will appreciate that various modifications and changes may bemade thereto without departing from the essential features of thedisclosure. Therefore, the embodiments of the present disclosure are notintended to limit, but are intended to illustrate the technical idea ofthe present disclosure, and the scope of the technical idea of thepresent disclosure is not limited by the embodiments. The scope of thepresent disclosure shall be construed on the basis of the accompanyingclaims in such a manner that all of the technical ideas included withinthe scope equivalent to the claims belong to the present disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for vehicle collision avoidance control,the system comprising: a sensing module including at least an imagesensor, which is disposed in a corresponding vehicle, has a field ofview out of the vehicle, and captures image data, and configured tosense an object nearby the vehicle; and a controller including aprocessor configured to process the image data captured by the imagesensor, wherein the controller recognizes blinking of hazard lights of apreceding vehicle of the vehicle at least partially based on processingof the image data captured by the image sensor and performs one or moreof driver warning and deceleration control accordingly.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the system includes an adaptive cruise control (ACC)module and an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) module, and thecontroller performs the deceleration control by controlling at least oneof the ACC module or the AEB module according to a required decelerationrate.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the controller controls the AEBmodule for a relatively high deceleration rate and the ACC module for arelatively low deceleration rate.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein thecontroller includes an apparatus for vehicle collision avoidancecontrol, and the apparatus for vehicle collision avoidance controlincludes: a control-starting module configured to determine whether avelocity of the vehicle is a control-involved velocity or higher; ahazard-light blinking recognition module configured to recognizeblinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle in front of thevehicle when the velocity of the vehicle is determined to be thecontrol-involved velocity or higher; and a control processing moduleconfigured to perform one or more of driver warning and decelerationcontrol when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle isrecognized.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein at a point in time whenblinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized,the preceding vehicle is traveling at a certain velocity or lower or hasstopped in a lane in which the vehicle is traveling or an adjacent laneof the lane.
 6. The system of claim 4, wherein the control processingmodule issues a driver warning when blinking of the hazard lights of thepreceding vehicle is recognized, determines whether the vehicle iscurrently in danger of collision with the preceding vehicle, andperforms deceleration control when it is determined that the vehicle iscurrently in danger of collision with the preceding vehicle.
 7. Thesystem of claim 6, wherein when a braking amount of the vehicle iscurrently smaller than a threshold value, which is a braking amountrequired for avoiding collision with the preceding vehicle, the controlprocessing module determines that the vehicle is currently in danger ofcollision with the preceding vehicle.
 8. The system of claim 4, whereinwhen blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle isrecognized, the control processing module issues a rear warning fornotifying a front situation of the vehicle to a following vehicle of thevehicle.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the rear warning includes oneor more of blinking of hazard lights of the vehicle, sounding of analarm, and transmission of a warning signal to the following vehiclethrough vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication.
 10. The system ofclaim 4, wherein when blinking of the hazard lights of the precedingvehicle is recognized and then stopped, the control processing modulemaintains the preceding vehicle as a control target and performsdeceleration control or target-following control.
 11. The system ofclaim 4, wherein when blinking of the hazard lights of the precedingvehicle is not recognized, the control processing module performsdeceleration control based on a time-to-collision (TTC) with thepreceding vehicle.
 12. An apparatus for vehicle collision avoidancecontrol, which processes image data captured by an image sensor, whichis disposed in a vehicle, has a field of view out of the vehicle, andcaptures image data, and recognizes, when a velocity of the vehicle is acontrol-involved velocity or higher, blinking of hazard lights of apreceding vehicle based on front image data captured by the image sensorand performs one or more of driver warning and deceleration controlaccordingly.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein at a point in timewhen blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle isrecognized, the preceding vehicle is traveling at a certain velocity orlower or has stopped in a lane in which the vehicle is traveling or anadjacent lane of the lane.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein adriver warning is issued when blinking of the hazard lights of thepreceding vehicle is recognized, whether the vehicle is currently indanger of collision with the preceding vehicle is determined, and whenit is determined that the vehicle is currently in danger of collisionwith the preceding vehicle, deceleration control is performed.
 15. Amethod for vehicle collision avoidance control, the method comprising: afirst operation of determining whether a velocity of a vehicle is acontrol-involved velocity or higher; a second operation of processingfront image data captured by an image sensor, which is disposed in thevehicle, has a field of view out of the vehicle, and captures imagedata, and recognizing blinking of hazard lights of a preceding vehicleof the vehicle when the velocity of the vehicle is determined to be thecontrol-involved velocity or higher; and a third operation of performingone or more of driver warning and deceleration control when blinking ofthe hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized.
 16. The methodof claim 15, wherein the third operation includes: issuing a driverwarning when blinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle isrecognized; determining whether the vehicle is currently in danger ofcollision with the preceding vehicle; and performing decelerationcontrol when it is determined that the vehicle is currently in danger ofcollision with the preceding vehicle.
 17. The method of claim 15,wherein the third operation includes issuing a rear warning fornotifying a front situation of the vehicle to a following vehicle of thevehicle.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein at a point in time whenblinking of the hazard lights of the preceding vehicle is recognized,the preceding vehicle is traveling at a certain velocity or lower or hasstopped in a lane in which the vehicle is traveling or an adjacent laneof the lane.
 19. A system for vehicle collision avoidance control, thesystem comprising: a sensing module configured to include one or more ofan image sensor which is disposed in a vehicle, has a field of view outof the vehicle, and captures image data and a non-image sensor which isdisposed in the vehicle and captures sensing data to sense one ofobjects nearby the vehicle; a vehicle movement control module configuredto control one or more of a velocity, a braking force, and a steeringangle of the vehicle; a warning module configured to output a warningsignal to a driver; and a domain controller configured to process one ormore of the image data captured by the image sensor and the sensing datacaptured by the non-image sensor and control the warning module or thevehicle movement control module, wherein the domain controllerrecognizes blinking of hazard lights of a preceding vehicle of thevehicle at least partially based on processing of the image datacaptured by the image sensor and performs one or more of driver warningthrough the warning module and deceleration control through the vehiclemovement control module.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the systemincludes an adaptive cruise control (ACC) module and an autonomousemergency braking (AEB) module, and the domain controller performs thedeceleration control by controlling at least one of the ACC module orthe AEB module according to a required deceleration rate.